Mean But Mine
by ApekshaStar
Summary: Elena time-travels to kill Klaus as soon as he is born. Caroline follows her to stop her, but they end up in the wrong Time & find Ester pregnant with Henrick,not Klaus.For some reason, they decide to stay back.They return with something unexpected and is avoiding everyone, especially the Originals. They are hiding something.Something big.What is it? What happened in the past?
1. Prologue

_**Hey guys...This is a really nice story. I assure you. Please read and review. I hope you enjoy it. Read on...**_

* * *

"Bonnie! What happened?" Caroline cried. "Calm down Bonnie...Calm down... Now take a deep breath and tell me what _exactly_ happened."

"It's Elena." Bonnie choked out. "She wants me to send her back in time so that she can kill Klaus as soon as he is born! I'm so scared Caroline. Time travels are very tricky and I have never done a Time Travel spell before what if something went wrong? But Elena won't even listen. Please come over Care. Help me. I don't know what has gotten into her! She is threatening to send Damon after Abby if I don't do it! She threatened _my mom _Caroline!"

"Oh God Bonnie! She threatened your mom? Don't worry. I'll be there in a few minutes. OK? Go along with her plan and just start the spell. I'll be there. Just don't panic."

"But Caroline!" Bonnie protested. "Time travels are very _**tricky**_. She can end up in _**anywhere**_! No. Not anywhere, but in any _**time**_! I can't do it!I'm not strong enough."

"Its okay, Bonnie. Just have faith in yourself. I'll come there as soon as I can. Can you stop the spell mid-way?" Caroline enquired, a plan forming in her mind. "No." Bonnie sniffled. "If I start such a major spell, I cannot stop it. When I start the spell, I will be releasing a huge amount of potential energy of Nature through me. It's impossible to stop such a huge force of Nature. And even if I do, I might just blow up from the pressure of the energy and possibly destroy everything within 100 miles of myself."

A long silence followed. "Caroline? Are you still there?" Bonnie asked. "Yes, Bonnie. I am here." Caroline replied slowly. "Look Bonnie. I have a plan. Just don't freak out. Okay?"

"Okay." Bonnie answered slowly, cautious about Caroline's tone.

"If you have started the spell before I come, I am going to go to the past with Elena. It is too late to inform anybody now. I will bring my laptop with me so that I can communicate with you from the past. Okay? So that way, you don't even have to worry about us."

Bonnie sighed, "No Caroline. I can't let you put yourself in danger. Not for me. Not for my mother."

"Bonnie, you have _**always**_put yourself in danger for us. Now just cut the worrying crap and let me pack." Saying so, she cut off the phone. She put in some shorts, pajamas and tank tops into a rucksack. She giggled as she put in some lingerie. Imagine wearing _Victoria's Secret_ even before Queen Victoria was born! She even put in some make up and grabbed some other essentials like toothpaste, toothbrush, a brush, a bar of soap and moisturizer. She figured that no matter what time she was in, she would remain clean and hey, they could really come in use.

She was currently wearing a pair of shorts and a tank top. Not bothering to change, she just put on a pair of knee length black leather boots to cover up her long legs. It would clash horribly with her outfit, but Hey! It would help a lot in trekking (there were obviously no roads a thousand years ago) _and _even though it was dark, she did not want to show that much skin outside her house. She threw in a pair of sneakers in the rucksack, just in case she needed to change her footwear.

She zoomed to Bonnie's house to find Elena standing inside a circle of candles with her eyes closed wearing an ancient type of dress. It was a yucky elephant-grey with full sleeves with a round neck, in the middle of which, there was a V-shape and it came down till her ankles. Yuck! Did people dress like that 1000 years ago? Elena must have worn it to blend in. Bonnie was sitting outside the circle with her eyes closed, hands in her lap and was chanting in Latin.

Suddenly, the candle flames blew high and Bonnie opened her eyes. Caroline noticed that Elena began to glow. Crap! Bonnie had finished the spell. Damn her stupid, unexplainable need for moisturizer and makeup. She would have got here more quickly if she had not stopped to pick up all her things.

"No!" Caroline yelled and just as Elena began to disappear, Caroline jumped forward, her hand stretched out towards Elena. Just on time, her fingers touched Elena and as they both disappeared, the windows burst open and the wind howled and all the candles blew off, leaving a sobbing Bonnie alone.

* * *

_**Hey guys! I hope you liked it! Probably will be updating the next chapter in the next two or three days...Please let me know how you guys liked it!**_


	2. Sorry, I Thought You Were A Prowler

_**Hey guys! Sorry for the late update! And thank you all so much for supporting me and so many of you angels are already following my story just by reading the prologue! Its overwhelming to see that you have such faith in me.**_

_**And I would like to thank Midnight349, mamouti and VAlover21 for the reviews. Thank you guys!**_

_**Okay then, read and enjoy...**_

* * *

Caroline was only screaming for a split second before she was slammed face-forward into the ground. "Ouch!" she said, her voice muffled due to the fact that her face was stuck in the ground. She slowly got up and spat out a mouthful of leaves. "Oh God! I thought people did that only in movies!" she said, her face disgusted. The first thing she noticed was that she was human. It was probably due to the fact that there were no vampires in this time; vampires did not exist. She looked around, surprised to find herself in the forest. 'Of course Caroline', she thought to herself sarcastically, annoyed at her own stupidity. 'What did you expect Mystic Falls looked like a thousand years ago? Streets with busy wagons and shopping malls?'

"Oww..." Elena groaned as she got up, somewhere near Caroline. "Caroline, is that you?" she asked, still not stable. "Yes Idiot!" glared Caroline. "It is me. Who else did you expect? And I have become human again. Now will you please tell me what **_exactly_** is going on before I kick your butt?"

Elena sat up straight and glared at Caroline, "Don't judge me Caroline. Don't you dare judge me. Klaus was ruining all our lives. I **_have_** to get rid of him and this is the best way. I'll kill Klaus as soon as he is born and then, we won't have to worry about anything in the future. We will all be safe from vampires." she tried to explain.

"Elena!" Caroline exclaimed and raised her hands in front of her in exasperation and let them fall back. She couldn't believe her friend had been so reckless. "Try to understand. If you kill Klaus, no death of his brother, Henrick and therefore, no vampires; No vampires, no doppelganger; No doppelganger, no Katherine; No Katherine, no Stefan. No Stefan, no **_you_**! You would have died that day on the Wickery Bridge if not for Stefan. _How_ could you have not thought about that?"

"I **_have_** thought about it Caroline." Elena said calmly. "I am a small price to pay if we can prevent so many other people from dying or getting turned. Rick, Jenna, Isobel, John, Lexi, Tyler, Vicki, Abby, Vicki and **_you_** Caroline. **_You_**. You can be saved; Isobel wouldn't abandon me and _Jeremy,_ Caroline. **_Jeremy_**! He wouldn't have to grow up and support everyone and become a murder so fast. He is too young to be killing vampires! And who knows, we can be saving _billions_ of people who have lost their lives as food and playthings to vampires."

"That is not _your_ decision to make Elena." Caroline said hardly. "You cannot make a decision like this which could affect _all _of us. You cannot put your obligation on us. Don't expect us to be happy or thank you for your decision. If you go die, you die for your own self and for none of us. And did you even _think_ about the magnitude of the decision you are making? You are just thinking about **_Mystic Falls_**_, Elena! _There are **_millions, _**no, **_billions_** of vampires out there in the world. Just _imagine_ how you would change their lives if there was no vampirism."

Elena shrugged, "Whatever, Caroline."

To say that Caroline was _angry_ would be putting I lightly. She was _madly enraged!_ "**_Whatever? Whatever? _**Is that the best you can do? _Whatever?_ Think about it Elena, you say that you want to save our lives, but what did you do to get Bonnie to co-operate? You **_threatened her mother_** Elena! You _threatened _Abby! You threatened you own _best friend _that you would _kill_ her _mother _if she did not listen to you. Since when did _you_ start **_killing _**people to get your way, Elena?" Elena just sighed and started walking away.

"Hey! Where are you going?" Caroline ran after Elena and jerked her arm back, stopping the other girl in her tracks. Elena turned and looked at Caroline. "To find Klaus's village, Caroline. Now let go of my hand."

"Wait! Just sit down and let's think." Caroline said.

"_Caroline, _don't try to stop me. I will **_not_** listen to you. Do you understand?"

Caroline rolled her eyes. "Believe me Elena. I know when your stubborn mind cannot be changed. _So_, I am **_not_** trying to do anything of that sort. I'm just trying to get you to listen to me stating the obvious fact that if you wander off alone, you may get lost in these woods. That's all. We could easily get lost in these woods if we are not careful." she said, gesturing to the thick forest around them.

"Oh, okay." Elena agreed, and sat down on a rock nearby. "What's your plan?"

"Hmmm...Let me think." Caroline thought hard. Suddenly, she cried out, "Wait! We have only travelled through time, not space. So technically, we are still in Bonnie's house, just a thousand years ago. And I know Klaus; due to his big ego and pride, I think he would have built his mansion exactly on his hometown village. If this is Bonnie's house, then Klaus's mansion will be in... _that _direction." she said, pointing towards their left.

Elena nodded and both girls decided to travel in that direction. After a lot of trekking, panting and complaining, they began to doubt whether they were going in the correct direction or not. They chanced upon a clearing which had a stream gurgling across it. Gratefully, both the girls cupped their hands and drank the crystal clear water. They even filled Elena's water bottle. She had also brought along with her a bag full of necessities.

Caroline was just thankful for her shorts and boots. They had made the trekking a lot more comfortable for Caroline than Elena, who was tripping along in her long, hot and sweaty dress and her uncomfortable leather Ancient Viking ankle length booth which were bound by strings. They decided to rest in the clearing for a while.

After a while, Caroline got up and said, "Since I am the one with the comfortable clothes here, I'll just climb up a tree and look around if there is any civilization around, okay?" Elena nodded and got up, dusting her dress, but suddenly asked in a shocked voice, "But aren't you human now? Will you be able to climb trees without your vampire speed and strength?"

Caroline rolled her eyes, "You don't know a lot of things about me Elena. You know me since kindergarten, so you only know the naive, shallow insecure Caroline who was always the first one to do womanly work. _But_, you do **_not_** know the Caroline who would go on adventure trips, mountain climbing, sea diving, skydiving and camping with her father – the strong, level headed and rough Caroline is unknown to you. Where do you think I got my agility of cheerleading from? I got it from the excessive mountain climbing and skydiving I did since I was at the age of four." Saying so, she grinned and went to look for a tree suitable tree for climbing.

Elena was shocked. Since Bill and Liz had separated, Bill had been taking Caroline out on one-month long trips twice every year for five years since Caroline was three until she turned nine. Then, Caroline had gotten to know that Bill had not left them for business trips as they had told her, but had left them for another man. After that, she had refused to even meet him. Just then, Elena saw something which left her stunned. Was that who she thought he was?

Caroline found the perfect tree. She turned to her friend, just in time to see Elijah – the human Elijah striding over to a stunned Elena, cupping her face in his hands and smashing his lips to hers and kissing her fiercely.

Caroline frowned and strode over to them. "Hey! Leave her alone!" she yelled at Elijah, who immediately pulled back, seeing that there was someone else in the clearing. Looking at Caroline, he immediately looked down and blushed. Caroline frowned, confused. She snapped her fingers in front of his face. "Hey! Look at me when I'm talking to you."

Elijah slowly raised his eyes. "Sorry, madam. I meant no offence. It's just that..." he raised his arms and gestured towards her. "Your clothing..." Caroline put a hand on her hip. "Sorry if you didn't like my attire. I hadn't dressed up keeping your opinion in mind. I was going to sleep when..." she trailed off. She smacked her forehead. How could she have forgotten? This was a thousand years ago! _Of course_ it would be improper for her to wear such clothes. People probably, no, _definitely_ got hanged to death for wearing such clothes.

She cleared her throat, "I am sorry if they offend you. This was worn for the convenience for travelling. We are friends. We are lost in the woods. We are orphaned, you see and so we decided to leave our village and find our luck elsewhere. We are not from around here. In fact, we are not from here at all. We just came here while travelling and are now searching for a place to stay – a village." she immediately told him, building up an appropriate story as she went. "Can you please tell me where the nearest village is? We are tired of travelling and wish to settle down in a quiet village."

Elijah bowed his head. "Yes, but..." He turned to look at Elena. Caroline giggled, "And may I know why you were kissing my friend? Is that the kind of greeting men give to beautiful ladies around here?" Elena just ignored her and offered her hand to a blushing Elijah, "Hello. I am Elena. Pleased to meet you, Elijah." Elijah snapped his head to look at her, "You know my name?"

Caroline gave Elena an irritated glance. Caroline cleared her throat, "Of course not. She just took a guess. Guess she turned out to be lucky." she finished lamely, but Elijah seemed to believe her. He smiled at her and said, "Well then, it would be my honour to lead you to my village which is just across that row of trees." He turned to Elena and said, "Sorry for my improper behaviour, miss. I just thought you were someone I know. A certain girl named Tatiana." Elena fought the urge to roll her eyes and instead smiled as Elijah kissed the back of her hand and said, "Of course. Don't worry about it at all. Please lead the way."

But Caroline wanted to talk to Elena alone. So, she clutched her stomach and groaned, "Oww... Elena. I'm feeling so hungry. I feel faint." With that piece of acting, she fell to the ground, acting like fainting. Elena understood what Caroline wanted. She turned to Elijah and said, "I know this is too much to ask for, but have you got any food? We have not eaten for two days and I do not think we will be able to travel any further without eating. Just some fruits will do."

Elijah nodded, "Of course. Just stay here. I shall go get some fruits and water for you. Then you can have a proper meal in the village." Elena nodded sweetly, "Of course Elijah. Thank you so much."

As soon as Elijah was out of sight, Elena ran to Caroline, who sat up immediately, and whispered, "What was all that about? I was really worried for a second there. I though you really fainted." Caroline grinned, "Ah!" she said dramatically. "I was not Head of Mystic Falls High Acting Community for nothing. But moving onto matters at hand, what is this? I think we are in the wrong time. There are only a few years of difference between Klaus and Elijah. Judging by his looks, I'd say that Elijah is around twenty-two or something. So Klaus should be around twenty or something? So we are _definitely not at the time of his birth._"

Elena nodded. "Yes, I think we _are_ in the wrong time." Suddenly, Caroline whispered, "Wait, do you hear that? It is someone crawling around." Instructing Elena to hide under a bush, Caroline quickly climbed up a tree, searching the grounds beneath her for the prowler. She saw someone moving just beneath her tree. Without a second thought, she jumped off the tree right onto the prowler, pinned him against the ground and bared her teeth, just as she would if she were a vampire. She completely forgot that she was a human and didn't have fangs.

But as soon as she saw who it was, her eyes widened in surprise. The person was stunned upon seeing such a beauty. He raised his arms in submission and said, "I am sorry. My brother Elijah told me that there were two women here. I brought them some fruits. I am supposed to guide them to the village."

Caroline got off him and helped him up, offering her hand. "Sorry," she said. "I thought you might be some prowler. I am Caroline, by the way. Caroline Forbes." She stuck out her hand. The man took it and they shook hands. "Niklaus," he said. "I am Niklaus Mikealson."

* * *

_**Hey guys...I hope you enjoyed the story and thought that you ought to know that the attitude of the characters shall be changing a little in my story. I hope you like it. Please let me know. Lov u lotz.**_

_**PS: I shall probably be updating the next chapter in the next three days.**_


	3. The Snarling Blonde Angel

_**Hey guys! !Thank you all SO much for your support. Thank you for the reviews-**_

_**Clarabelle, Guest, Emphatic-Boom, DreamsBeatReality, Live-Forever-Love-Always , BlueBoxAngel, and MikkyEkkoJosephMorgan.**_

_**Love you all!**_

* * *

Niklaus went through the forest, searching for the girls Elijah had talked about. He proceeded cautiously, not wanting to startle them. He felt someone behind him. Just as he turned around to see who it was, he saw a beautiful blonde flying at him from a tree, a snarl on her face. Niklaus did not know what to do. He just couldn't think. He was in awe at the beauty at the blonde angel flying at him, her hands outstretched, her face in a snarl. He had never seen a woman like her before. Before he could comprehend to act, he was knocked to the floor as she jumped on him, pinning him to the ground and her hand at his throat.

Suddenly, the blonde angel's eyes widened in surprise. His brother had told him that there were two helpless women in the forest. No one could certainly mistake this beauty for helpless. So, he thought it was wise to make himself known, and so, he raised his arms in submission and said, "I am sorry. My brother Elijah told me that there were two women here. I brought them some fruits. I am supposed to guide them to the village."

The girl got off him and helped him up, offering her hand. "Sorry," she said. "I thought you might be some prowler. I am Caroline, by the way. Caroline Forbes." She stuck out her hand. He took it and they shook hands. "Niklaus," he said. "I am Niklaus Mikealson." 'Wow...She truly is a beauty.' He then noticed the scandalous clothes she wore and lowered his head, not looking at her, blushing.

'Idiot.' he thought to himself. 'You are blushing like a _woman_.' Caroline seemed to notice this and frowned, "Hey! Why does everyone have a problem with my clothes? I am perfectly dressed for travelling and even though I know that it is a great sin to show some skin in this time, er, _place,_ The shoes cover up nearly all the my legs."

Niklaus couldn't help but smile at this. "Yes, Caroline. May I call you that?" Caroline nodded. He continued, "You see, women do not travel in my village, so it is _unnatural_ for us to see women travelling." Caroline rolled her eyes, "Of course there had to be gender discrimination here also. Well then, Elijah did tell us that he would be coming, but now that you are here, come on, I'll let you catch up with my friend."

His brows knotted in confusion, "Catch up?" Caroline nearly smacked her head. Obviously, people didn't _catch up _in this century! She cleared her throat and smiled, "I meant I'll let you acquaint yourself with my friend." Saying so, she led him further into the clearing and called out, "Elena, you can come out now." She watched as Klaus's eyes widened as Elena came out of her hiding place behind a bush from across the clearing.

"Tatiana..." he whispered. Caroline frowned. By the tone of his voice, she could out that he knew this _Tatiana _well. Too well. "Oh God!" she groaned. "Please tell me you too aren't going to kiss her." Klaus's head snapped in her direction, "Kiss? Did Elijah kiss Tatiana?"

Caroline put her hands on her hip. "First of all, she is _Elena, _not _Tatiana, _whoever _that_ is. And secondly, why does it matter if Elijah is involved with this Tatiana?" Klaus just shrugged. "Nothing. Just follow me. I'll lead you to the village and oh, before that, here are the fruits." He sat down, untied the cloth he had tied around his waist and opened the knots. Inside it were a few fruits.

"Thank god." Caroline said and grabbed an apple. Klaus had brought a knife and a wineskin filled with water with him to clean and cut up the apples because none of the ladies in his village ever ate anything without first cleaning them and then cutting them. But to his surprise, Caroline plopped herself in front of him, grabbed an apple and bit into it. She closed her eyes in pleasure as the juice ran down her dry throat. "Hmmmm..." she hummed.

Elena came and sat down next to Caroline and timidly reached for a banana. She unpeeled it and began nibbling on it while Caroline was nearly finished with her apple. She finished it and threw the core on the ground. "Got anything to drink?" she asked him. He nodded and handed her the water. She drank it but hesitantly lowered the bag from her lips.

"Ummm...Don't mind me asking, but uh, do you have anything **_stronger_**, if you know what I mean? I have travelled a lot and _really_ need something to drink. _Really _drink." Klaus's eyes widened, but he nodded. "Are you allowed to drink?" he asked her.

"Ummm... Yes. Why do you ask me? Aren't women allowed to have a drink in your village?" she asked him. Klaus shook his head but handed over his tiny leather bag flask of mead that he always kept on him. She muttered a thanks and took a deep drag of the mead. She closed her eyes in satisfaction as the strong liquid burned her throat. She only paused to take a breath as she drank. She had finished nearly half the wineskin before pausing. She turned to look at Klaus who was staring at her in a strange way.

"What?" she asked him. He just smiled and shook his head, "Nothing. Just haven't seen a woman that could handle that much alcohol." Caroline rolled her eyes. "I am **_not_** like other girls. Elena? Are you done?" The other girl just nodded. Caroline got up, gave the bag back to Niklaus and helped Elena up and said, "Well, let's go. Come on Niklaus."

Niklaus winced. He did not like the name _Niklaus _from the angel's tongue. He shook his head and said, "Niklaus is the name my father gave me. Please. Call me Klaus." Caroline raised an eyebrow, but just nodded and they continued their journey.

* * *

By the time they reached the village, twilight had set in. Niklaus led both the girls to his family's house. He thanked God twilight had set in. He certainly did not want any man, or woman for that matter, to look at Caroline in her skimpy clothes. As they neared the house, he could see Ester chopping vegetables, sitting on one of the benches that surrounded the now unlit fire outside the house. There were many huts that circled the great fireplace. All the huts belonged to the Mikealsons – a hut for each member of the family.

Caroline walked upto Ester and confidently held her hand out for Ester with a grin on her face. Ester, obviously pregnant, set the chopping board aside, got up and shook Caroline's hand, a warm smile on her face. She asked, "Now who is this beauty, Niklaus? I don't think I have seen her around from here. If I had, I would have certainly remembered such a pretty face."

Caroline blushed, letting go of Ester's hand. "I am Caroline." she introduced herself. "And this is my friend, Elena." she said, urging her friend to come forward. Ester's eyes widened as she saw Elena. "Tatiana?" she whispered. Caroline giggled. "No," she said. "This is Elena. Though I am clueless as to why everyone is mistaking her for this Tatiana."

Ester just smiled, "I am sorry, Elena. You look like someone in our village. Anyways, come, sit down next to me. Tell me about yourselves." They all sat down. Ester smiled, "Elijah told me that you both. I think you both should remain in our house. We have plenty of space." Caroline grinned. "Thank you so much. I hope we are not imposing ourselves on you. I promise, we shall try to help and run errands for you. It looks like you need help. You can't do much work in your state." she said, referring to Ester's growing stomach.

Ester smiled, "Thank you so much Caroline and um... would you like to change clothes?"

Caroline frowned, but just nodded, "I am sorry, but could you please tell me where I could buy one?" Ester shook her head. "No, my daughter Rebekah has many. You can just borrow from her. Niklaus, lead her to Rebekah." Niklaus nodded and guided Caroline and Elena politely.

They stopped outside a hut. "Bekah!" he called out. Rebekah came flying out of the house with a big grin on her face and flung herself at her brother. "Nik!" she cried out in joy. Klaus patted his sister's head. "Look sister." he said. "We have guests. Caroline here needs some help with clothes. I was hoping you could help her." Rebekah pulled back and nodded at Nik.

She turned to look at Caroline, a curious expression on her face. She smiled at seeing that she was blonde. She left her brother and came to hug Caroline, "Nice to have another blonde in the village." she pulled back from the hug to look at Caroline, smiling. She spotted Elena and immediately, her face turned unpleasant. "Tatiana. What are you doing here?" she asked, hatred filling her voice.

Elena smiled, "Sorry, but I am Elena. Caroline's friend. Though I have _no idea _why everyone keeps mistaking me for this Tatiana. But judging by the look on your face, I think I can conclude that you do not like her." Rebekah nodded. "I think it is safe to tell you that it is because both my brothers fight over that whore like two rabid dogs over a piece of meat." Klaus growled, but before he could say anything, Caroline moved forward and hooped her arm through Rebekah's and lead her into the hut, chatting with her. Elena gave him a strange look before following them into the hut.

* * *

Caroline sat patiently as Rebekah braided her hair. But suddenly, Rebekah unravelled it and just pulled her comb through Caroline's hair. "Your hair looks good left open." she said. They all went outside to take a breath of fresh air before dinner when Kol came running up to them.

"Bekah..." he trailed off. "Now who are these two beautiful women?" he asked, grinning. Rebekah rolled her eyes. "This is Caroline and this is Elena, not that whore, Tatiana. Don't make a mistake in telling them both apart. They may look the same, but they do not _act_ the same. I _like_ Elena and I am sure I don't have to elaborate about my feelings for Tatiana."

Kol nodded seriously, "Lord forbid I have to listen to your ranting about what a whore Tatiana is again. The men are back from the hunt. Father has returned. He wishes to meet you for dinner. That's why I came to call you." Rebekah nodded at him and gestured the two girls to follow her. They all went to the big fire in front of the Mikealson huts. Mikeal sat next to his wife, holding her hand in his. He looked up as the four of them approached the fire. He smiled at them. "Bekah. Kol. And I assume that you both are Caroline and Elena." Both the girls nodded.

He smiled and said, "Welcome to the Mikealson fire. We sit around the fire everyday and have dinner. Today, we had a good hunt. Today, we all shall eat venison!" he announced, looking at his family. Rebekah clapped her hands in delight while everyone else cheered.

They began to eat. It was a kind of stew, with cooked vegetables and meat. After they ate, Elena and Caroline helped Rebekah to clear away the dishes and Kol went to fetch something. Finn too came and introduced himself to Caroline and Elena. Kol came back soon after the girls had finished clearing away the plates.

"What is this?" he asked in confusion, holing up Caroline's shorts and tank top. Caroline went upto Kol and took it from his hands and went to sit down in between Rebekah and Elena. "They are mine." she said. "I wore them for the comfort of travelling."

"But are you allowed to wear such clothes?" Rebekah asked, shocked at the skimpy clothes. "Won't your parents forbid you?"

Caroline just shook her head, "No. Where I come from, people do not differentiate between men and women. Women are as good as men, and sometimes even better. Women have their own rights – they can marry a man of their choice, they can work above men and they do not _have_ to listen to anyone. Once they are above eighteen years of age, they can do anything and no one can stop them. Not even their parents. And _anyway_, I am not a girl who gets ordered around. No one tells me what to do. I do what I what I _want_ to do and not what I _have_ to do. " she added to Rebekah, smirking.

"So, Caroline. Are women excelling in every field in your society?" Mikeal asked, unexpectedly joining their conversation. "Yes." Caroline nodded, but squirmed uncomfortably in her seat, feeling that she had given away too much. She had seen Mikeal only once at Tyler's party and that too from a fair distance.

"So are they even in your hunting parties?" he asked. "Well, we don't _have_ hunting parties, but yeah, women do hunt." she said, wondering where this conversation was heading.

"So does that mean that you know to hunt?" he asked. Caroline nodded, now confused, "Yes, but I don't hunt so much."

"Now, Mikeal. Stop harassing the poor thing with questions." Ester chided. "It's time for music."

Kol nodded and took out a flute-like musical instrument that he had gone to fetch. He blew through it, a low hum filling the air. Soon, the tune got livelier and one-by-one everyone except Mikeal and Ester got up and joined the dancing Rebekah. They all held hands and circled around the fire, dancing, but Kol stood aside and continued playing his instrument. They all circled the fire and twirled on the fourth beat. Then, the men on the right inter-changed positions with the women on their left. And then the pattern repeated.

As the melody grew higher, their steps grew more quick and livelier and everyone was laughing. But, Klaus had eyes only for a particular blonde angel who was laughing at Kol's increased tempo and enjoying herself.

The melody got higher and with it, so did Caroline's laughter. Soon everyone was laughing, but Klaus had eyes only for the blonde angel. Every time she held his hands while dancing, he felt a surge of happiness.

* * *

Soon after the bonfire, all the siblings and the guests went to take a walk in the forest. As they walked, Caroline heard a gurgling sound. "Is there a stream here?" she asked, surprised. Klaus, who was walking beside her nodded and replied, "Yes, our family uses it for cooking and various other various domestic purposes."

Caroline flashed him a grin and grabbed his hand and pulled him to the stream-side. She sat down; her hand still connected to his and pulled him to sit down next to him. She looked around for the others and beckoned Rebekah to come and sit next to her. She couldn't see Elena anywhere, but Caroline assumed that she would be somewhere nearby. She folded her hands behind her head and lay down with Klaus and Rebekah, and just stared at the stars.

"So beautiful..." she whispered. "Yes. Very beautiful." she heard Klaus whisper. She turned her head to look at him, only to find that his head was turned to his side and he was looking at her. Caroline blushed and averted her eyes, not sure whether he was referring to the stars. Rebekah just grinned. She was very happy at the turn of events. She did not like that _Tatia, _but she liked Caroline. Very much. Already, they were very good friends. True, she liked Elena, but she liked Caroline more. Things were working _perfectly _according to her plan. She didn't mention that she had dissuaded Kol and Finn from coming on this walk and had persuaded Elijah to distract Elena.

After a while, Caroline yawned, exhausted at the day's happenings. She had walked a very long way, not to mention that she hadn't had any sleep, thanks to Elena's whim to go on a little _journey_ through time. Klaus got up and offered his hand. "I think it is time for you and Bekah to sleep. You looked wearied." Caroline stifled another yawn and just got up, accepting his yawn.

"I usually don't take orders, but I _am_ feeling very sleepy." she said, yawning yet once again. Klaus smiled at her. Yes, she wasn't like any other girl.

Rebekah too got up, smirking. She very nimbly went to stand between Klaus and Caroline, looping her arms through theirs. They made their way back to their village. As they reached the village, Rebekah went to her sleeping quarters. Just before entering, she turned to look back a Klaus innocently and said, "Oh Nik! Do you think you can show her the hut where she shall be staying? I am too tired." She faked a huge yawn. "Oh, and it is the hut next to yours. That was the only one free after Elena claimed the one next to Elijah's."

Klaus grinned and just shook his head. He knew what she was trying to do. His sister was very _devious_. No doubtingly, she would have been the one who had made the sleeping arrangements. But he didn't mind. In fact, he was quite please to have Caroline so near him. He just led Caroline to her hut as Rebekah turned back to her hut, a smirk on her face.

* * *

"This is your hut from now on. And if you are in need of anything, I am just in the next hut over there." he told her. Caroline turned to thank him, but her breath caught as she saw the intensity of his gaze as they bored into her eyes. They both stared at each other for one long minute before she broke eye-contact and fled into her hut, seeking shelter from the confusing man standing outside and that fuzzy feeling in her chest.

Her heart raced as she threw herself onto the bed, her breath ragged. She decided that she would think about what the bloody hell had happened the next morning and closed her eyes with a sigh as sleep overtook her.

* * *

_**Hey Guys! Hope you liked it! And I have been meaning to introduce Tatiana in the next chapter. So, tell me, do you guys want her to be a bitch who'll create Hell in Klaroline's life or a sweet misunderstood who got unwanted attention. Please tell me! LOVE you guys!**_


	4. Tatiana

_**Sorry for the late update everyone! Enjoy...**_

_**RECAP: Klaus leads Caroline and Elena to their village and they are invited to stay in their 'family circle' and everyone keeps mistaking Elena for Tatia. They all dance and by Rebekah's plan, Klaroline share a moment before Caroline flees into her hut.**_

_**Thank you for the reviews - AngelDust246, Clarabelle26, starlightsps, VAlover21, serialover, Sherry, 666, gallowayl062 and Iloveklaus29 . Seriously, thank you guys!**_

* * *

Elena woke up with a smile on her face as the memory of last night's events struck her. She and Elijah had taken a walk in the woods surrounding the village. Elijah of course, had been the perfect gentleman. His manners and honour hadn't changed over the centuries.

But it did not help Elena's thoughts that _every _time she looked at him, she was reminded of their kiss. True, when he had kissed her, he had thought her to be Tatia, but still, a kiss was a kiss and Elena hadn't been able to get it out of her mind.

During their walk, she hadn't been able to take her eyes off him when he wasn't looking. Of course, she had been too shy to meet his gaze. After their walk, Elijah had accompanied her until her hut and wished her goodnight, kissing her knuckles slightly, making her blush and flee into her hut.

* * *

Caroline woke up blinking, the sunlight blinding her even through her closed eyes. She woke up, rubbing her eyes sleepily and got out of her hard cot. She went outside the hut to find Elena already up and about and chopping vegetables with Rebekah.

"Elena!" Caroline called out to her friend. "Why didn't you wake me up?" she groaned.

"Well, Caroline." Elena answered. "We didn't feel the need to disturb you. According to Rebekah, we are going to a lake today. So I thought you would need your strength." Caroline frowned. Where did this come from suddenly? Elena wanted to kill Klaus, not go on lake-side picnics!

"Yes Caroline." Rebekah said. "I thought that a day off would do us all some good. Just us siblings and you both. Is that okay? We shall be leaving at noon. Ayanna has returned from her expedition. So we are free to do what we want for the day while Ayanna looks after Mother." Caroline nodded, "Sure. Why not?"

"Please go help Klaus with the apples Caroline." Rebekah insisted, seeing Klaus walking past them with a basket in his hand. "Nik!" she called out to her brother.

"What is it Bekah?" Klaus came up to his sister. "Elijah and I were going to pick the apples just like you told us to!" he said, exasperated. Just then, Elijah too came up to them, a basket in his hands too. "Hello Niklaus. Hello ladies." he greeted them.

"Nik, Elijah, please take Caroline and Elena with you please. Elena has done her part of the chores and Caroline had just woken up and a walk would do her good." Caroline yawned loudly, unable to escape her sleepy mood. "See what I mean?" Rebekah insisted.

"Okay." Elijah agreed and offered his arm to Elena, who took it, blushing. Klaus held out his hand to Caroline, who just trudged past him, rubbing her eyes and still yawning. Rebekah burst out laughing at the confused frown on her brother's face.

* * *

Caroline walked up to Elijah and knocked him on his shoulder just like she would knock a door, "Is there a stream nearby or something?" she asked sleepily. "I might just run into a tree and not notice it in my current situation."

Elijah nodded, failing miserably to hide his smile. "As soon as we leave the village there is a small stream flowing. You will be able to um... _awaken _yourself there." Caroline just nodded. She had not slept for two days in a row straight and her now human body desperately craved for more rest.

* * *

They reached the stream and Caroline quickly splashed her face with the cold stream water. She felt a lot better after that. "Okay then." she faced the rest of them, a bright smile on her face. "Where to next?" she asked.

Elijah smiled. "Nowhere to next, Caroline. This is it. See?" he answered, pointing towards the trees around them. "These are the apple trees and we pick the apples. Just be careful not to drop them." Caroline nodded at him, grinning and joined Klaus, who was plucking the apples on the low branches of the apple tree. She jumped high, trying to reach an apple, but miserably failed. She kept jumping, her arms stretched out, when suddenly, she felt two firm hands on her waist hoisting her up so that she could reach the apples. She looked down to see Klaus holding her up.

Grinning, she reached up and collected as many apples as she could hold in her arms. She then wriggled in Klaus's arms so that he set her down on the ground. "Thank you." she grinned at him and threw her armful of apples into Klaus's basket.

"Why don't you just climb the trees?" Caroline asked. "It's much easier. The trees are also quite low." Klaus smiled at her and replied, "I don't have to Caroline. I can quite well reach it from the ground."

"Oh!" Caroline said. She went over to the tree in which Klaus was plucking fruit from and quickly climbed up the tree with swift agility and experience. She slowly crawled along the branch and sat down above Klaus's head, just next to where he was standing. His eyes widened with concern. "Caroline." he whispered, panicked. "Please come down before you get hurt." Caroline smiled. "My feet are nearly touching your shoulders Klaus. Don't worry." She started picking juicier apples from the higher branches and handed them down to Klaus.

Elena saw Caroline in the tree and got concerned. "Caroline!" she called out to her friend, who waved back to her, excited. "You must try it too Elena!" Caroline called out to her friend.

'Why not?' Elena thought. It didn't _look_ too high. If she jumped, she could touch the lowest branch. She went to the trunk of the tree and slowly made her way up the tree. Only when she sat down on the branch did she realize its actual height. The ground looked quite far from the branch and suddenly, Elena wobbled as she lost her balance on the branch and fell through the air.

_Shit! _She thought as she fell through the air. A startled squeak escaped her mouth as she tumbled toward the ground. She squeezed her eyes shut and braced herself to hit the ground, but there was a deep _thump _and she felt a strong pair of arms catching her, just before she hit the ground. She opened her eyes to find Elijah looking at her with concern. "Are you alright?" he asked her.

She wordlessly nodded, still shocked from her fall. "Elena!" Caroline shouted, jumped off the branch and ran to her friend. Elijah slowly set Elena on her feet, who was immediately attacked into a hug by Caroline. "Are you alright?" Caroline whispered to her friend. "God! For a moment there, I thought you would get a fracture or something."

"Fracture?" Klaus asked, confused. "Broken or cracked bones." Caroline responded. Klaus nodded. "Oh, okay."

"I'm fine, Caroline." Elena responded. "I was just being silly. I'm sorry."

"Yeah." Caroline nodded. "I think we should head back." The rest of them nodded their agreement and they all headed back to the village.

* * *

"Oh good." Rebekah commented as she saw the four of them approach her with the two baskets full of apples. "Now just put it there right next to that basket over there which has our food." As soon as her two brothers set the baskets down, she quickly picked a few apples and put them into the 'food basket'. She stood up with a grin on her face and announced, "There. Everything is set. Now we have an hour free before we set off so go on you boys. We girls shall be taking a walk to Ayanna's house to get some bread she had promised to give me."

Elena's eyebrows shot up at this. Ayanna? As in the witch? She nodded at Caroline who gave her a tight-lipped smile. They would have to speak to the witch if they wanted to get back to their own time.

They both followed Rebekah as she told them all the tales of her childhood, pointing out the places where she had played as a child. The girls in turn told stories of their childhood. The girls were laughing and chatting as they walked when suddenly, a raven-haired girl knocked into Elena, making her fall onto the ground. "Oh sorry. I didn't see you there." the girl said as Elena got up and dusted off her clothes.

"Oh it's okay." Elena looked up to smile at the girl but stopped dead in her tracks. Standing before her was a mirror image of herself. Except that this image had curly hair, just like Katherine. "Tatia." Rebekah commented, her voice hard and sharp. Tatia looked at Rebekah and just nodded shyly, smiling.

"Who are your friends Rebekah?" she asked, her voice soft and shy. Rebekah narrowed her eyes. She was getting tired of this girl's attitude, but she did not want to seem rude in front of her new friends. So, instead of slapping her like she wanted to, she turned to her new friends with a tight-lipped smile and said, "Tatia, this is Caroline and Elena, my new best friends. Girls, this is Tatia, the village whore who play's with my brothers' hearts like it is garbage."

Elena gasped and Caroline's eyes widened with shock at this introduction whereas Tatia's eyes began to water. But Caroline could not help the smile tugging at her lips at Rebekah's frank and clear opinion about the Original Doppelganger. "Oh, Ayanna is calling me. I will just go get the bread. I'll be back in a moment." she said to Caroline and Elena and went off. Caroline followed her while Elena stayed back, wanting to get to know the first Petrova Doppelganger.

"She doesn't like me very much." Tatia whispered to Elena, still looking at the two blondes' retreating figures. She turned to look at Elena and said, "Oh, I'm sorry. My name is Tatiana Petrova. And oh lord! We look _so _alike. In fact, _exactly _alike. What do you think?" she giggled. "Are we some long lost twins?"

Elena smiled and shook her head. "I'm afraid not. You see, I am not from around here at all. My name is Elena – Elena _Gilbert._"

"Oh, okay." Tatia smiled shyly. "Where are you from Elena?"

"Let's just say that I'm from a very far place. Caroline and I are orphaned." Elena replied, keeping up the story that Caroline had told the Mikealsons. "We had been travelling for a long time when just yesterday, we ran into Elijah-" Elena smiled at the thought of Elijah "- and their family have been kind enough to offer us a place in their family circle and so we are staying there. In return, we have offered to run a few errands for Ester, given her condition."

Tatia's eyes widened. "You are living in the Mikealson circle?" she asked.

"Yes." Elena responded. Just then, Caroline and Rebekah returned, a small basket on Caroline's arm. Rebekah's eyes narrowed, finding Tatia next to Elena. "What are you still doing here?" Rebekah asked, frowning.

"Um... I was just talking to Elena here." she muttered shyly, averting her eyes from Rebekah's furious gaze. Rebekah ground her teeth. She was playing innocent, was she? Well, two can play at that game.

She looped each of her arms through Caroline and Elena's. "Come on." she chided both the girls. "Nik and Elijah will have my head if I don't get you two back home safe on time." Though the other two girls did, Rebekah noticed the flash of anger in Tatia's eyes at the mention of her brothers. Rebekah smirked. The whore did not like her two friends spending time with her brothers. Good.

"_And_, we are all to spend the whole day together. My brothers wouldn't want to waste that time." They turned back to head back, still arm-in-arm when Rebekah turned back, a smirk on her face to look at Tatia, who was staring at her furiously, not at all the shy meek creature she was just a moment ago in front of Elena. She had transformed into a world-class furious monster within a matter of seconds. Well, it looked like looks could be deceiving.

* * *

_**What do you think? Please review! I think I want Tatia to be a two-faced bitch! :D Bet you didn't see that coming! Hope you liked the chapter! Please let me know! **_


	5. Fun, Henrick and Ayanna

_**Okay, first of all, I would like to apologize for my late update. I think its been nearly three moths! Phew! Sorry guys! Just catching on with life. But if anyone wants to kick my lazy butt or sent me a hate mail, please do it. I might update faster! ;) Anyway, I hope this chapter is worth the wait. I had written it long back, but my laptop hardware crashed and all my data was lost. Anyway, I am desperately searching for a Beta and I suck at finding Betas! Help anyone?**_

* * *

_**Thank you reviewers!**_

_**Iloveklaus29, bindu95, 666, VAlover21, Rpatz-Wifey, Ktclaire99, zalmx'z 1ArX aLeXanDrX, Look At My Comment, Sparkles12345!**_

_**Thank you guys! 31 reviews! Keep the love coming!**_

* * *

"No , she's not innocent!" Rebekah cried, annoyed. "How is it possible for that wench to be innocent!" Klaus ran up to the three girls, two of which were currently arguing.

"Rebekah, hurry. We are all ready to go." Klaus said to his little sister who paid no attention to him and glared at Elena. "She's nothing but a bloody whore who breaks families apart." Rebekah cried angrily.

Klaus smiled at his ranting sister and asked, "And who might be this whore in question?" Elena sighed. "Tatia." she said to Klaus. "I just said that she seemed like an innocent little thing and your sister was at my throat."

Klaus' eyes hardened and his jaw clenched. "Rebekah." he said his voice hard. "I have told you many a time not to disrespect Tatia." Caroline rolled her eyes. Everyone turned to look at her.

"And what would be your opinion Caroline?"Rebekah provoked. Caroline shrugged "It is not my place to say, but if you ask my opinion, she is no innocent thing. I am not saying she is a bitch, but she is no doll either. I don't know her, so I can't really say anything. It was just my first impression."

"See. Caroline agrees with me." Rebekah turned with a triumphant grin to Elena, who shrugged. "Okay fine. She is a whore who has no sense of dignity and spreads her legs for any man who smiles at her. Happy?" she asked. Rebekah smiled, smug. "Delighted."

"Rebekah!"Kol yelled from where he was standing next to the picnic baskets. "Stop blabbering and get a move on!"

"I am coming Kol!"Rebekah yelled back."There is no need to yell like a bull!"

"Look who's talking!"Kol yelled back, smirking.

* * *

Caroline giggled as she ran to the water and dipped her hand in the cool water. Klaus came and sat next to Caroline, rolling his pants up to his knees and letting his feet dangle in the water. "Want to join me?" he smiled at Caroline. "Sure." Caroline grinned back and raised her skirt till her knees, enjoying the flow of cool water. Elena and Rebekah joined them leaving Kol to argue with Finn and Elijah about something.

Suddenly, Caroline felt a pair of hands push her into the water. She let out a scream, her hands flailing around in the air. She caught Klaus's hand and pulled him down into the water with her. They both resurfaced, gasping for breath. Caroline snapped her head from side to side, looking for the culprit and found Kol standing where she had been sitting a second ago, smirking.

Caroline glares at him and opens her mouth to scold him when suddenly, Kol loses his smirk and falls head first into the water. Kol surfaces, waving his hands around wildly, gasping and spluttering. Rebekah laughs at her brother. "Traitor!" Kol shouts and splashes her with water. Rebekah giggled and gets into the water to splash Kol back.

Elijah stood there, smiling at his siblings playing but suddenly, he found himself falling smack into the water. He resurfaced, coughing and saw Elena standing there grinning. He quickly splashed her. She squealed as she tried to avoid the cold water, but the water splashed her from head to toe. She too got into the water and by now, everyone except Finn was in the water, splashing one another and laughing.

Catching sight of Finn standing, his hands behind his back, Rebekah winked at Elena, who nodded back, smiling. Rebekah swam up to her brother and held her hand out. "Help me out Finn. I'm feeling cold." she said. Finn grasped his little sister's hand to pull her out, only to find himself being pulled in.

Rebekah laughed at her brother's shocked face and started splashing him. Soon, it grew into a big water fight. Suddenly, Kol cried out and started slapping and hitting himself all over his body. "_Aargh!_" he screamed. "Something is nibbling on me. Elijah! Nik! Get it out! Now! Get it OUT!" Kol shouted, reduced to tears.

Elijah tried to calm him down. "Kol, calm down. I'll get it out. Just calm down, Kol. Kol….KOL!" Kol looked at his eldest, usually calm brother, shocked. "Shut up RIGHT NOW and let me look at it. Where is it?" Kol just whispered, "In my tunic. On my back."

Elijah nodded and pulled Kol's tunic off over his head and peeled a strand of grass off Kol's back. The others burst out laughing. Kol huffed and got out of the water, annoyed at himself. Caroline held onto Klaus helplessly, unable to stop laughing. "I'm hungry." Kol huffed.

"Come on." Rebekah choked out, breathless from her laughter. "Let's get out before another idiot finds something _nibbling _him in his pants!" This only made the others roll around in laughter. In fact, poor Finn nearly drowned laughing. But finally, everyone managed to get out of the water.

Kol stretched himself out on the grass, curling his toes in the sun's heat. "What's the matter Kol?" Rebekah asked innocently. "The sun _nibbling _you?" Kol sat up furiously, glaring at his little sister. Everyone rolled around on the ground clutching their stomachs, pealing with laughter more at Kol's expression than at Rebekah's question.

"Okay." Caroline giggled. "Why don't you boys set the food while we girls go and check ourselves for any _nibbling _creature?" The girls made their way to a clump of trees, chuckling. They wrung their wet dresses and hung them on the branches of a tree, which left them standing bare in their chemises. The girls then proceeded to sit back in the warm sun.

"Elena," Rebekah suddenly asked. "What is going on between you and my brother?" Elena blushed. "What do you mean?" Elena murmured, clearing her throat. "Well, I saw you and Elijah stealing glances at each other and if I am right, I even saw you changing colour." Rebekah said, looking at Elena.

Caroline sat up. "You were _blushing_?" she asked Elena, who just stared at the ground, red in face. "Yes." Rebekah replied. "She was changing colour. _Blushing _as you put it."

"Huh." Caroline commented. "Guess it was only fair that you both kissed."

"Kissed?" Rebekah shrieked. "He _kissed _you?"

"Shush." Elena scolded her. "Yes, he did kiss me, but he thought I was Tatia. It was just a misunderstanding."

"I know my brothers very well." Rebekah said, standing up. "Elijah certainly doesn't think it's a misunderstanding." Elena started to protest but Rebekah interrupted her, "Anyway, you'll know soon enough what I say is true. So I'll just go see what my idiot brothers are doing with the food." She said, putting on her now almost-dry dress. "God knows what is in those brains of theirs. Come on when you both are ready." With that, she walked out from behind the trees, out into the clearing to her brothers.

"I swear I don't know what's wrong with me Caroline. It's just that I just cannot get that kiss out of my head." Caroline held up a finger to silence her. "It's fine Elena. I don't blame you. Even Klaus has been acting weirdly with me. But right now, let's just focus on talking to that witch Ayanna. We have to get home as soon as possible.

Elena nodded. "Some things never change do they? Klaus likes you when he is an evil hybrid and he likes you even he is an innocent human."

"Same old same old." Caroline agreed, stepping into her dress. "Wait." Elena suddenly said. "Caroline where is that scar I gave you on your knee in our first cheerleading competition?"

"It must have faded away when I turned into a vampire." Caroline brushed it off. Elena walked up to Caroline and brushed her hair off her back. "Hey!" Caroline complained.

"Your mole mark. It's disappeared." Elena whispered. She then checked her own chest for something. "Caroline, remember when my necklace burnt me in my kitchen? You were there too and Bonnie said that some witch was probably trying to track me?"

Caroline nodded. "That burn had left a very light mark. It's not here now."

"I am a human. My marks couldn't have disappeared." Elena whispered.

"Um… By any chance, do you feel we have got you know… like kinda new bodies?" Caroline bit her lip.

"I think so." Elena frowned in concentration. "Now we really have to go and meet Ayanna."

"Do you think we're… you know…._virgins_?" Caroline said, trying to lighten the mood.

"Oh god Caroline!" Elena exclaimed. "Get your mind out of the gutter!" She giggled, understanding that her friend just did not want to think about it.

* * *

"Ah! I was wondering where you two had gone off to." Kol commented. "If you had been anymore late, we would have finished all the food."

"Not a chance." Elena pushed him playfully, reaching for a piece of stuffed bread.

Elijah chuckled. "What?" Finn asked him. "I'm just trying to wrap my mind around the idea of _nibbling _grass_._" he chuckled again. Kol huffed at his eldest brother. "You're never going to let it go are you?" he snapped.

His question was met with giggles and chuckles from everyone. He huffed, crossing his arms and just decided to wait it out. They would have to stop at some time, he decided. But unfortunately for him, he had to wait for a long time. In fact, he was still waiting as they made their way to the village after their meal.

* * *

As they were making their way back home, laughing at each other's jokes and stories, suddenly, a girl ran up to them, breathless. "What is it Fiona?" Rebekah frowned at the younger brunette. "Rebekah," the girl gasped. "I have been looking for you _everywhere_. It's your mother. She is giving birth."

"Oh my god." Rebekah whispered. "Elijah." she turned to her eldest brother, who just nodded at Fiona. "We will be there." He told the young girl. The group quickly made its way to the family house circle. There was a huge crowd gathered there. Rebekah immediately made her way into the hut from where she could hear her mother.

"What are these people doing here?" Elena asked Elijah. "They have come here to flatter father." Klaus answered bitterly. "Our father is one of the wealthiest and probably the most influential person for miles around. They have no doubt come here to show their worry for mother, offer their congratulations and pretend to be happy for him." Elena looked at him, surprised.

"Have you even considered that their wishes concern might be genuine?" she asked him. "If that was the case," he answered stonily. "They wouldn't have been offering their condolences when Rebekah had been born. Apparently, a woman in the family is a burden. But thankfully, father had enough sense not to consider such idiocy. In fact, he protects and keeps Rebekah like he would a jewel. She is his favorite and he has pampered her with everything possible." Elena just nodded and looked away. It explained Rebekah's behavior in the future. Having to run from the person who loved you the most must have been painful. But to protect yourself from the person who protected you must be agony.

* * *

Caroline saw Elena talking to Klaus and sighed. They needed to speak to Ayanna as quickly as possible. She did not want to take the risk of changing something in the future. One wrong move here could result disasters in the future. She saw Mikeal sitting on one of the benches around the fireplace, his forehead resting on his inter-twined fingers.

She walked up to him and sat down next to him quietly. When he did not respond, she smiled. She knew what it felt like when everyone acted like they cared but no one actually did. She knew what it was like. When she had turned into a vampire, no one had been there for her. She had been forced to transform on her own with no one to help her with her feelings and emotions. And when she started getting back those awful memories of Damon, she had been lost. She hadn't known whom to trust. She hadn't even been able to trust _herself_.

"You know she is going to be alright, right?" she asked. Mikeal raised his head to look at her in surprise. "She's going to be fine. You don't have to worry. She wouldn't want you to." She assured him, placing a hand on his inter-twined fingers and giving it a light squeeze.

Mikeal was shocked. No one had ever comforted him like that. True, many people had assured him that the child was going to be fine and they told him not to worry because it would surely be a boy. But not one of those fools had ever given a thought about the fact that the woman he loved was in there giving birth to his child. They thought he was concerned about the child or the _gender _of the child. Surely he was concerned about the child, but he was also concerned about the love of his life – his wife.

"Could you please go inside? Take care of her for me. Please?" he begged, taking her small hand in both of his large ones. He felt that he could trust her. He had to know his wife was in safe hands. Ayanna was there, but he for some reason unknown to him, he felt that he wouldn't worry so much if Caroline was there.

Caroline was surprised, but nodded. She gave him a reassuring smile and made her way to Ester's hut. A woman stopped her from entering. "Only the family women may go inside. Unless you are helping with the birth?" she asked Caroline. "Mikeal sent me." Caroline answered. "He told me to stay with his wife." The woman looked surprised, but nodded. Mikeal was a very influential man. No one would dare lie about his word. If they did, the punishment was banishment from the town. He was that honored in the village. Caroline slipped behind the cloth covering the doorway.

* * *

"Is that Caroline going inside the hut?" Elijah frowned. "Looks like it. Why?" Elena asked. "Actually, only the family women and the helpers are allowed inside the room when a woman is giving birth. It is tradition here." Elijah answered.

Kol slipped away and asked something to the woman standing near the door. He ran back to the Mikealson siblings who were standing with Elena, a confused look on his face. "It looks like father asked Caroline to be with Mother." he said. The Mikealson brothers raised their eyebrows at this.

* * *

"Push Ester! Just a little more. Push." Ayanna urged her friend. Ester held onto her only daughter's hand tightly as she whimpered in pain. Rebekah held onto her mother's hand, even though she knew it would bruise badly afterwards. Suddenly, there was the cry of a newborn child rang in the air. Immediately all the women helping with the birth ran out. They were forbidden to look upon the child. It was always the mother's right first. Ayanna picked up the child. "It's a boy." she said, smiling at her friend, who smiled in relief.

"Get those cloths." Ayanna suddenly instructed Caroline. Caroline grabbed a white cloth laying there on a shelf. Ayanna muttered something in a strange language and the blood and grime on the baby disappeared. Caroline looked shocked. "I know you know that I am a witch. So please stop with the acting." Ayanna told her sternly. Caroline closed her mouth, which had fallen agape.

Ayanna tucked the baby in the white sheets that Caroline handed her and gave it to Ester, who smiled. "My Henrick. He is beautiful." Ester whispered, her eyes filled with tears. Suddenly, Ester's eyes rolled back into her head and her hands slackened. Ayanna caught the baby and gave it to Caroline, who tucked it safely in her arms.

"Mother! What's wrong with mother Ayanna?" Rebekah panicked. "It's okay child." Ayanna assured her. "Your mother is just exhausted. Just pass me that bucket of water there. We shall change the sheets." Rebekah nodded.

Caroline smiled at the baby, who was now peacefully playing with her blonde locks, tugging at it and gurgling in delight. She walked out of the hut and was immediately surrounded by Henrick's brothers. They smiled at their brother, who was laughing, playing with Caroline's hair. But Caroline firmly made her way to Mikeal, who was standing there, tears in his eyes and his hands shaking slightly with anticipation and nervousness.

Caroline handed him his youngest son, smiling. "She is fine. Just exhausted." She told him. Mikeal looked at her gratefully and held his son in his arms. But Henrick still did not let go of Caroline's hair and tugged at it. Caroline's head jerked, "Ow." Henrick gurgled, awarding his father with a toothless laugh. Mikeal smiled. Caroline slowly tugged her hair out of Henrick's hold and stepped back.

Mikeal kissed his son's forehead before raising him above his head for the villagers gathered there to see. "Henrick Mikealson, my youngest son." He announced. There was a roar of applause and cheering.

* * *

Later that night, there was a feast in the Mikealson family circle. It looked like the whole village was present. Ester stood next to her husband, her newborn son in her arms as everyone took turns congratulating them.

The Mikealson siblings stood with Elena and Caroline, laughing and joking. Rebekah had gone off into a lecture about how Kol was going to have to behave himself because she did not want her youngest brother to be influenced by him. "So Caroline," Elijah addressed her. "It looked like Father gave you permission to go help Ayanna."

"Yes, he asked me to be there. You seem to be surprised." Caroline smiled. "As a matter of fact, I am. I have never known father to be so trusting." came the reply. Caroline just shrugged. She grabbed Kol's cup of mead and downed it in one go. "Hey, that was mine!" Kol complained. And soon, the squabbling and bickering started, returning the atmosphere to normal.

* * *

In the middle of all the festivities, Elena and Caroline slipped off to meet Ayanna. The two girls reached Ayanna's hut and Caroline cleared her throat. "Ayanna, may we come in?"

"Come in." came the reply from inside. Caroline and Elena swept aside the cloth door and entered the hut. "Please take a seat." Ayanna gestured towards the bed. Elena and Caroline sat down next to each other. "I see you have taken a break from the celebrations to come and join me."

"Yes." Caroline said nervously. "You were not there at the festivities." Ayanna smiled, "I prefer to miss such exhausting and in my opinion, over-zealous activities. Although I must concur, there is much reason to celebrate."

"Yes. I know, but I was hoping I would be able to ask you a few questions." Caroline smiled. Ayanna waved her hand, "Go ahead."

"Um…I don't know how to say this, or I don't know whether you will believe me, but I'm sure you are aware that I know of magic's existence. You told me so earlier this evening when Henrick was born. I won't even ask how you knew because you witches always know things. You see, actually, we are not from around here, Elena and I. Well, we _are_ from Mystic Falls, but we are from Mystic Falls a thousand years in future."

Ayanna held up a hand to stop her. "Speak no more child. I understand. You came here because of a time travel spell and now you want to get back. I have heard of such spells, but have never seen one done. So if I may ask, why was the spell attempted in the first place?"

"Actually, it was my fault." Elena said. "I asked my friend, Bonnie, who is a witch to send me back in time because-" Elena opened her mouth, but no sound came out. She tried to speak again, but found that she couldn't.

"Whatever you were going to tell me now, is it related to something that if spoken of might change the future? Or is it something big connected to the future?" Ayanna asked. Elena shut her mouth and nodded.

"Well then, child. I'm afraid; you will not be able to speak of it. If we are not to have that knowledge in this time, then Nature will not let you speak of it. You might have come here, but you will not be able to do or say anything that might change the future. You might disturb the balance of Nature. Nature will not allow that. " Caroline and Elena nodded.

"And before you ask, I _will _help you get back to your own time. I am a servant of Nature and therefore will try to put right what might disturb its balance. Nothing unnatural will happen on my watch." Ayanna said, determined. "You may go now. Go and rest yourselves." Elena smiled sadly. Little did this witch know, that on her watch only, the vampire species would be born and that her best friend would be trying to cover up that mistake even after a thousand years!

Caroline and Elena got up to leave. "Oh and one more thing." Ayanna stopped them. "The time flow here and the time flow in your time might be different. One minute here might be a year or probably even a century in your time. Or one hour there might be a year here. We wouldn't know as there is very little information about time travel. I only know these things myself from a book or _grimoire _if you will, just a few years ago. In no other book have I come across a time travel spell. Anyway, go and rest yourselves. We shall talk shortly."

The girls nodded and left. Caroline breathed in the fresh air as they walked back to the family circle. "Looks like the Bennett witches are as bad in the future as they are now." Elena giggled. "Do you remember that first day of school when Bonnie was non-stop talking about how her Gramps told her that she was a witch? Ayanna is just like that." Caroline grinned. "We just couldn't get a word in."

* * *

"So, Caroline. Tell us more about your family." Ester smiled as they all sat around the fire, talking after the tedious feast. "We just had another addition to ours, so I was wondering if you had any siblings."

Caroline cleared her throat. "Yes. Actually, I am an only daughter. Well, my father was never around as I grew up and my mother was just too busy for me. She was the Sheri- um, the _head guardian_ for the security of our village."

Mikeal's head creased with curiosity. "Really? Head guardian you say… What about you Elena?" he suddenly asked the brunette. "Um…well… Caroline and I have been best friends since childhood. My parents were healers. But they also did some protecting of the town from…. _unnatural _creatures." Caroline grimaced. Well, it was believable. Elena was obviously referring to her parents being doctors and them being involved in the council.

Ester smiled. "Enough talk. Everyone proceed to bed." They all made their way to their respective huts, exhausted from the day's exertions.

* * *

_**Okay please don't kill me. I promise to update faster if I find a Beta. PROMISE! Any volunteers out there? PLEASE! And I have decided to give spoilers for next chapters just in case I don't find a Beta and am stuck giving late updates...**_

_*** Veggie Day for Elijah! LOL! It is a day when the Mikealson family eats only vegetarian food and does not at meat. This day was applied on the insistence of Elijah who did not like killing animals...**_

_*** A festival/fair/dance coming up! Dun dun dun! Guess who will be escorting my gals? (Caroline, Elena, Rebekah and Tatia)?**_

_**PS: These spoilers (or teasers...they are one and the same thing right?) on the request of Rpatz-Wifey!**_

_**And I seriously do not know if this chapter is good or not. Or have I pulled that 'nibbling' part too much and made it boring? Please let me know!**_


	6. First Kisses

_**I am SO sorry for not updating. I have my board exams this year and I won't be able to make frequent updates until March 2014. That's when my exams will be over... So, this chapter has a lot of action (when I mean action, I mean ALL types of action *wink*)... Anyway, Enjoy!**_

_**Unverse, Sparkles12345, Look At My Comment, hybridspuppy, 666, hybridgirl167, redbudrose, crazybookworm1998, dbr22, Jana, WeasleysGroupie, ferrylis and deiru. Thank you for reviewing guys! Love your reviews. Always so helpful!**_

* * *

"Get up Caroline!" Rebekah shook her. Caroline groaned and turned away from her. "Get up! We have to gather the food today. Elena, she's not waking up. I've been trying to wake her up for the last five minutes." Elena came up to Caroline's sleeping figure and sighed. She leaned down in front of Caroline's ear and shouted loudly. "Aaaaaaaa!"

Caroline screamed and got up, her eyes wild and snapped her head from side to side. Elena smiled. "There. She got up." She walked out of the cottage just as Caroline threw what she used as a pillow after her, followed by an indignant scream "ELENA!"

Elena chuckled and just called out "Get dressed in five minutes." She was chuckling to herself when she turned around a corner and smashed right into someone. She looked up at the man's face. Elijah. Uh-oh.

Caroline got dressed, still grumbling as Rebekah helped her tie up her dress. "Are you allowed to wake someone up like that in your village?" she asked curiously. "No." Caroline grumbled. "It's just Elena who does that. It's not the first time either." She complained. "I was twelve when I, Elena and Bonnie, a friend of ours had a sleepover….I mean, we shared a room for the night and I was woken up very rudely just like this. And I won't even mention the day when I woke up to a bucket of cold waterin my face." Caroline frowned as Rebekah laughed at her.

* * *

After playing with Henrick for a while, Elijah, Finn, Klaus, Kol, Rebekah, Caroline and Elena set out for the woods. "So why exactly are we going to pick vegetables and fruits?" Caroline asked.

"Because Elijah here believes that we shouldn't always hunt animals for our food." Kol grumbled. Putting on a dramatic display and waving his arms around, Kol mimicked Elijah. "We shouldn't kill animals to satisfy our hunger. They have the right to live as much as we do. They too have lives and families. _Bollocks._" Kol grumbled. "So then Elijah started to pester Father. He wanted us not to eat meat at leastonce in seven days. Thankfully, Father reduced that to one day in two full moons."

"He _is _right you know." Elena chimed. "They too have their own lives." Elijah smiled at her which she returned shyly, but Kol snorted. "Well, it looked like he had to do too much begging to get Father to agree to this."

"That is true." Elijah agreed. "Father believed that only the poor and the weak do not consume meat for food. I had to go without food for two days before Father agreed. The stew contained meat and I refused to intake meat."

"That must suck. For you." Caroline laughed.

"You know," Kol said thoughtfully. "I still cannot get over how funny you talk." He ducked to avoid a flying basket from Caroline.

* * *

"Look!" Rebekah exclaimed. "The tomatoes are turning red." Everyone split up to look for more vegetables and wild fruits.

* * *

"Come faster Rebekah." Kol complained. "I want to see Henrick." he whined. "So do I Kol." Rebekah snapped. "It's not my fault that my basket has the most vegetables."

"Stop being dramatic." Finn scolded. "Your basket is the lightest in comparison." Rebekah just huffed and turned to Caroline. "So Caroline. Did anyone offer to be your escort to the dance?"

"Um…no? It's the first time I have heard of this _dance_." came the reply.

"It's something we villagers do every once in a year. For one night, we celebrate until the crack of dawn unless of course, someone wants to return home." Rebekah informed her.

"No. No one has asked me."

"Yet." Rebekah commented smugly. Klaus smiled and opened his mouth to say something, but suddenly stopped in his tracks to avoid crashing into a brunette who suddenly came in front of him.

"Tatiana." He said, surprised.

"Niklaus." Tatia said formally. "I would like you to escort me to the annual dance."

Rebekah burst out laughing. "No one asked you? No one did, did they? Are you so desperate as to beg someone to escort you?" Tatia opened her mouth to answer, but closed it after a second thought. "What? I thought you were with my elder brother this week. Or have you made it one brother every two days?" Rebekah continued. Tatia's eyes flashed dangerously as she turned crimson. She huffed, turned on her heel and stormed away.

"Something isn't right." Rebekah chuckled. "She was looking flushed…. insulted almost. Like I had guessed correctly." She smiled at Elijah, who was avoiding her eye. She frowned. "Elijah? Did she ask you?"

"Rebekah, I think it is time for us to get home. Mother will be worried." He stated calmly. As usual, the stubborn yet accurate Rebekah made the right guess. "Oh my god. You refused didn't you?"

Finn put an arm around the excited Rebekah's shoulder. "Let us get home now. Shall we sister? We wouldn'twant to spend the rest of the day here. We still have a long walk home."

"Okay, but who are you taking to the dance?" Rebekah probed Elijah. With a sigh, Elijah turned to face her. "I had asked Elena here if I could be her escort before Tatia approached me."

With a huge grin on her face, Rebekah giggled. "Liar. I can say when someone is lying and you are. You totally – what was that you said Caroline? Yes – you totally blew her off didn't you?"

Caroline, who had been rather quiet, smiled at her. Kol groaned. "Don't you go around picking this blonde's vocabulary sister. It sucks." He suddenly stopped speaking.

"Oh, it _sucks _doesn't it?" Caroline asked slyly.

Kol took to his heels, with the girls right behind him. "Oh for heaven's sake!" Finn shouted. "We still have to get to the other side of the village and I would prefer not to take all day long getting there."

* * *

Finn, Elijah and Klaus walked at their own pace, knowing they would find the ladies and Kol catching their breath somewhere in their path. "So," Finn breathed. "Can I expect less fights over Tatia in our family?" he smiled, trying to break through the awkward silence.

Klaus glared at him. Elijah just smiled. Finn cleared his throat, "So, since when did you take a fancy to Elena?" Elijah smiled at Elena's name. "She is a very enchanting lady." he said. "So what about Tatia? I thought you loved her." Finn stated.

"So did I. But it turns out that it was just the brother in me competing with Niklaus." He flashed a smile at Klaus which was not returned. "_And, _all the men in the village were trying to win her hand and I think the impulsive youth in me wanted to win her. It was just a competition to prove myself superior and not love that drew me to Tatia. When I spoke to Elena the night we went out for a walk, I found her to be an impressive woman. And when we were celebrating Henrick's birth, I spoke to Caroline and Elena and I found them to be very honest and trustful women."

Finn chuckled, "By honest, you mean _blunt_ when you are referring to Caroline." Elijah smiled and continued, "My mind had started to compare Elena to Tatia and a man does not compare the woman he loves to any other woman. So I decided that I was not in love with Tatiana. I would regret it if I lost my chance with Elena and I am not a man of regret."

"Always the man of logic." Finn smiled. "Isn't that Aaron Branson? The son of the hunter who shot a bear two moons ago?" Finn suddenly said. Klaus and Elijah turned and saw Aaron kissing Caroline's hand in farewell as Kol, Rebekah and Elena stood by. The brothers ran up to the group as Aaron left. "What was he doing here?" Finn asked.

"Asking Caroline if he could be her escort for the dance." Kol stated.

"What did you say?" Klaus asked her.

"Of course she said yes." Rebekah snapped. "She couldn't go to the dance alone because _someone_ didn't have the nerve to ask her." With that she stormed away.

* * *

The rest of their walk was very quiet. Kol tried to break the ice once, but failed miserably. "Oh come on sister," he mocked. "Don't be sad the hunter's son didn't ask you out. I'll go with you if that makes you feel better."

"Oh shut up Kol. You know Father does not allow either of us to bring an escort because we are too young so shut your mouth." Rebekah snapped. Kol sighed. He knew she was hoping that Klaus would ask Caroline out. But what could have been done if Tatia had asked Nik to the dance before he had the chance to ask Caroline?

* * *

"Oh come on little sister." Kol whispered as Rebekah cut the vegetables furiously. "I know you wanted Nik to ask Caroline. But don't you realize that this is even better?" Rebekah frowned at him, confused. "Nik will be very jealous seeing Caroline with Aaron. You just make sure that Caroline looks stunning."

With a grin, Rebekah tackled her brother into a hug. "Thank you so much Kol. Now I must get on it immediately. I have to take out those dresses Father bought for me last spring. Here, take this." Handing Kol the knife, she rushed off towards her hut.

"Why me?" Kol groaned. "Why do I always get stuck with these things?" With that, he started attacking the vegetables furiously.

"To say that Rebekah is domineering is an understatement." Caroline sighed as she and Elena sat down on her bed.

"She so wants to put you and Klaus together." Elena chuckled.

"I know." Caroline cried. "And the worst thing is that she is making it so bloody _obvious_."

"It _is _painfully obvious." Elena agreed. "No wonder Rebekah is so overbearing in the future."

"I am going to talk to her about this. So what is it about you and Elijah?"

"He asked me to be his date to the dance this morning just after I woke you up." Elena admitted. "So, this Aaron guy is hot isn't he?" She asked changing the subject.

Caroline nodded her head dreamily. She remembered, Aaron's long dark hair, which complemented his electric blue eyes and just thinking about his cute smile and gentlemanlyways made Caroline sigh and thank god that she had such a hot date for this dance. He was somewhat like a Damon – a Damon with longer hair and manners. (PS. I like this)

Just then Rebekah walked through the door an excited smile on her face. She had huge piles of dresses in her hands which she dumped on the bed next to Elena. "Ready to try on the dresses for the dance?" she smiled.

"Rebekah I need to talk to you about something." Caroline said. Rebekah smiled at her questioningly. "I don't know how to put it, but you _really _need to stop. Just stop with trying to put me and Klaus together. It's not going to happen."

Rebekah looked like a child who just found out that Santa Claus doesn't exist. "I….I didn't mean to give you that impression." she whispered, but her eyes showed a hint of moisture. Caroline bit the inside of her cheek. "Sorry. I did not mean to say it so harshly…."

"It's fine." Rebekah said hastily.

"No its not." Elena interceded. "There is something wrong. What is it Rebekah?"

Rebekah sat down on the bed heavily. "It's Tatia." she whispered. "I'm scared of her." The girls' mouths fell open. Rebekah Mikealson scared?

"All the men in the village courted her. But I know not why she chose _my _brothers to toy with. Did you know she has already had a child _out_ of wedlock? And an unmarried woman having a child is outrageous. But still my brothers courted her. When she was first introduced to me, she talked to me very nicely. But once, when I was thirteen, about a month after she had arrived in town, my brothers were conversing with her and I fell down playing with my friends and both my brothers rushed to my help. My hand had been cut by a rock so they quickly rushed me home. Later that day Tatia came to visit me when I was alone in my cottage. She spoke to me sweetly – too sweetly. Then all of a sudden, her hand shot out and her fingers clenched tightly around my wound in a hard grip and she put a hand over my mouth, stopping me from crying out in pain. It hurt a lot. She told me that Nik and Elijah were hers and warned me never to try to grab their attention away from her again. Then she clamped her fingers around my throat until I struggled for air. The last thing I heard before I last consciousness was '_Consider this a warning_'_. _From then on, whenever I tried to warn Elijah or Nik that she wasn't nice, they scolded me saying that I had no reason to dislike her and that I was just being petty because I had to share their attention with her." Elena and Caroline listened to Rebekah's story with horror. Tatia made Katherine look like a joke.

"She ruined my brothers**'** love for each other for the next three years. Then you both came and I thought that maybe – just maybe, my brothers will fall in love with you and our family could be a family again. Tatia has broken this family apart. Just last week Elijah and Nik had come to blows over her. Kol and Finn had to tear them apart. You both are just so nice that I wished that you could become a part of our family. For once I felt that I was not alone against Tatia. I am sorry if I made you both uncomfortable. This is the first I have told anyone about Tatia choking me. I have kept it to myself and I hope you do not disclose my secret to anyone."

Elena went over and hugged the girl. "You are not alone." she whispered into her hair. Caroline too went over to hug her, "Your secret's safe with us." she muttered into Rebekah's ear. And for the first time since she was a helpless thirteen year old, she felt she wasn't alone.

"Looks like the Petrova doppelgangers get better over the years." Caroline muttered so that only Elena could hear. Elena's mouth twisted up at the corners into a smile.

"Now how about those dresses?" Caroline said brightly, stepping back with a grin. Rebekah wiped away the few tears that had escaped her eyes with the back of her hand and got up smiling. They had to get ready for the dance after all.

* * *

"You know, I look like an idiot." Elena whispered, smoothing down her dress.

"No you don't. You look beautiful. Now just let me do your hair."

Rebekah chided as she pulled Elena's curled hair into a hair pin on one side. She pulled the other side of hair over her shoulder. Elena looked at herself in the mirror. She was wearing a black crinoline gown. The dress had short sleeves and two laces from the sides of her bodice crossed over and were tied behind her neck. There was a black bow in the center of her waist and white fabric flowed in the front. It was quite a grand dress considering the time period.

Rebekah wore almost the same kind of dress except that it was green and it had a green bow on the right side of her neck and the green material was pulled up so that the dress was half white and half green.

"You both are dressed fine. But why again did you choose _this_ dress for me to wear?"Caroline complained. She did not mind looking gorgeous, but she looked _hot _in this dress. There was no other word for it. Her dress was black with straps and her sleeves, which were not attached to her shoulder straps, fell down her shoulder revealing a little skin. She looked like Taylor Swift in that '_Love story_' video! The black sleeves came down until her elbow and a netted material with red embroidery fell from her elbow way below her hands. Her hair was straight and Rebekah had applied a little red colour on her lips which made her look like that mysterious girl in a book who, in the end would be a wicked cunning sexy girl. She could easily say that she looked nowhere near innocent.

"We celebrate this festival every year to celebrate our safety from the creatures of the dark. So we all dress up like the creatures of the dark and wear black except of course, young ones like me and Kol are not allowed to wear black. Our Father has forbidden it. _And, _I know that Elijah would prefer Elena like this – simple and innocent. But _you, _you are to be escorted by Aaron Branson, the man for whom all the village girls would kill to go out is the most well-known young man in the village, after my brothers of course."

"Okay, let's go enjoy ourselves." Elena smiled and the girls walked out of Caroline's cottage.

"I so look like myself." Caroline sighed.

"_Vampire._" Elena whispered tauntingly into her ear.

* * *

Tatia snatched Niklaus' hand when she saw the three girls approaching. Aaron, Elijah and Kol were waiting with them for their dates. Tatia had to admit that she was a little jealous. Okay, _more _than a _little _jealous. Aaron Branson was going to be that new blonde's escort. Yes, she had Niklaus, but she couldn't see Aaron with anyone else. She had always thought that he secretly admired her and now, he had asked that blonde prick out!

Her mouth fell open as she took the girls in. True, she looked beautiful in her purple and black long-sleeved gown. But this blonde looked outrageously…._seductive. _There was no other word for it. Kol looped Rebekah's hand through his and they walked away, chatting. _Kids _Tatia thought, rolling her eyes. But she almost went up in flames when she saw Elijah kiss that _Elena's _hand as if she were the most precious thing in the world. The way he looked at that girl! He had never looked at _her _like that. And lastly, Aaron kissed Caroline's hand, tugged her close and whispered something into the blonde's ear which made her change colour and smile at him. She couldn't help but feel jealous.

They walked away, Caroline's arm looped through Aaron's and he put his other hand on the small of her back leading her away. Caroline laughed at something he said and Tatia could see her replying playfully. "She is such a whore." She commented. Niklaus just followed the group, not saying anything.

* * *

Caroline smiled when she saw Elijah lead Elena away. She was so happy. It was a pity that it could never work out. Ayanna had promised to tell them as soon as she found the spell that could send them back. Aaron stepped into her line of vision. He kissed her hand and tugged lightly. _Whoa! _She had _not _been expecting that. She stumbled into him. "You look breath taking." he whispered into her ear. She turned red. Were the guys in this age even supposed to do that? But she couldn't help returning his dazzling smile.

She looped her arm through his and he led her towards the dance. "You know, I am not going to leave your side for the whole evening. You are actually my shield from all the other eager ladies." he said playfully. Caroline laughed. "Oh, so I am your human shield now, am I?" she said slyly. "Poor Aaron, what would you do without me?" she asked dramatically.

"Probably go hide in the bushes." he said after pretending to think hard. Caroline giggled.

* * *

The rest of the night was spent dancing. Aaron pulled her towards the stalls and insisted on buying her a bracelet. "This metal is called bronze." he smiled. "We have begun to make it just a few months ago." The bracelet was braided bronze which went along well with her dress. She put it on immediately which made him smile.

"So," he stated while they were dancing to a slow tune, one of his **hands** on her waist **the** **other** clasping her hand. She draped an arm over his shoulder. "After trying _so _hard to win you over tonight, do you think you can do me the honor of being my friend?" he smiled.

"Of course." she agreed.

"So I see that you have quite the number of men pining over you." he said tilting his head. She turned to see a group of men staring at her. They quickly turned away when they saw that she was watching them. She shrugged, turning back to Aaron.

"I really don't care. Elena's the beautiful one actually."

"I object to that. You are equally beautiful and I couldn't imagine any man _daring _to look at her after tonight." he said, a smile tugging at his lips. He nodded his head at Elijah and Elena who were sitting around the fire, talking to each other and laughing. Elijah had one of her hands in both his large ones. Elijah said something in her ear and Elena laughed so hard that Elijah had to hold her shoulders to stop her from falling off the log. "Elijah would rip his eyes out."

"I am happy for them." Caroline smiled. She hadn't seen her friend laugh like that since Stefan had left town with Klaus, the latter of whom was sitting across the fire and was staring at her and Aaron. He looked away as soon as they made eye contact.

"So, you want a glass of water?" Aaron asked. "You must be exhausted from all that dancing."

"Okay." Caroline agreed. She really was exhausted. She had danced many times with Aaron, Kol, Elijah and even Finn, not to mention all the group dances around the bonfire. Aaron kissed her hand before walking away to look for her drink.

She made her way to Klaus, who watched her warily before turning his face away. "Hi." she sat down next to him. He turned to face her, not saying anything. "You know, you should be enjoying yourself in this festival that comes only once in a year." No reply."You look handsome in that shirt by the way. It suits you." she continued, trying to get him to talk.

He looked at her, surprised. His face broke into a smile.

"Rebekah made it for me last month. I was supposed to wear it for my birthday, but I did not have anything finer than this to wear to the dance."

"You look good." Caroline assured him. "Want to dance?" she grinned.

"Won't Aaron mind?" he asked curiously.

Caroline shrugged. "Why should he? He's not like in love with me or something we are just friends." She tucked her hair behind her ear.

"That bracelet is nice. Quite expensive." He observed.

"Oh this? It's nothing. Anyway I cannot be bought off with expensive gifts." she smiled. Klaus had not idea that in the future, he would gift her something that would be worth millions of bronze bracelets.

"There you are." Aaron sat down beside Caroline and handed her the water. "What are you talking about?" he asked in a friendly manner, trying to join the conversation. "I was just telling Klaus about how I cannot be bought off with expensive gifts." Caroline winked at him.

"Awwww…. Too bad. Maybe I really was trying to get you to like me." he playfully pouted.

"Awwww… You're adorable, but neither your puppy eyes nor your gifts can win me over. But it really is a beautiful gift. Thank you." she smiled.

"Don't worry about it." he grinned. "I'm going to make you pay for it with a favor."

"What favor?" she asked curiously. "I'll tell you after the dance." he promised her.

"Well then, I think I have one more dance in me." she got up.

"I'm _very_ tired." he sighed dramatically and pretended to yawn loudly.

Caroline laughed. "Who said anything about you? Coming?" she asked Klaus, who got up, smiling, and took her hand.

As they made their way towards the bonfire hand in hand, a girl who was being pulled by a man grabbed Caroline's hand who held Klaus's tightly. Like that, the line grew till it became a full circle. Caroline laughed, feeling like Rose with Jack's hand in hers, in the party under the deck. Wait. Did she just refer to Klaus as her Jack?

* * *

"Okay, so I will count until one hundred and all of you will hide and I am supposed to find you?" Rebekah confirmed.

"Yes." Elena smiled. They were playing Hide-And-Seek. Rebekah had to seek and Elena, Caroline, Klaus, Elijah, Kol, Aaron and Tatia had to hide. Rebekah closed her eyes and started counting. "One… Two… Three…"

"Come on!" Caroline squealed and Aaron and Klaus followed her into the woods. The three of them hid behind a huge boulder. "No." Caroline whispered, shaking her head fiercely. "We all have to hide away from each other."

Saying so, she dashed away to hide behind a tree. Aaron darted after her. He whispered something into her ear. Her eyes widened, but she nodded grinning. Caroline ran back to Klaus.

"What happened?" Klaus asked.

"Aaron fancies Rebekah." Caroline giggled. "And he is going to find her." Seeing his eyes widen, she continued. "Don't worry. He won't do anything wrong. He is better than that."

Klaus nodded, but after a moment's hesitation, he asked "But doesn't that bother you? I mean, he did offer to be your escort." Caroline shook her head,

"He is just a friend. That's all."

Just then, Elijah and Elena ran up to them, hand in hand.

"What are you doing?" Caroline hissed. "We are supposed to be hiding in different places not together."

"We thought we would join you." Elijah said as he and Elena sat own next to them. "You two are too noisy. It's a wonder Rebekah hasn't found you yet."

"Anyway, Rebekah is going to be a little busy, so I think we should just head back home." Caroline said, smiling knowingly at Klaus. Suddenly, there was a rustling sound. "What was that?" Elena whispered. "Doesn't sound like Rebekah." Elijah said, getting up. The others too got up, looking around for the source of noise. Suddenly, there was another rustle. Everyone whirled around, looking for the creature again.

"It's probably a stray wild dog." Elijah whispered.

"Not helping." Elena muttered under her breath. Suddenly, Elena felt something touch her on her shoulder. Letting her instincts take on from Alaric's vampire-hunting training, she whirled around and smashed her fist onto the animals face. Wait, why was the animals s tall? And she was pretty sure it couldn't make such whimpering noises.

Moonlight illuminated Tatia's face as she turned to glare at Elena, holding her broken nose. Elena clapped her hand over her mouth. "Oh my god…. I'm so sorry. I thought it was some wild animal…..I'm so sorry….I'm really _really_ sorry." Tatia just looked at her with hate as Caroline rushed forward to help Tatia, a secret smile tugging at her lips.

"Let's get you out of here." Caroline muttered and led a simmering Tatia away and threw a wink over her shoulder. The men were so shocked that all they could do was stare.

* * *

Elena knelt in front of the stream, washing away Tatia's blood from her hand. She put her stinging hand into the stream, letting the cool water flow over her smarting knuckles. She couldn't believe she had just done that. She sighed, a tear escaped from her closed eyelids. She couldn't believe this was happening. All she had ever wanted was to have a simple life with a happy family with the ideal house with a white picket fence, a loving husband, her children running around with a golden retriever. Was it too much to ask? And now here she was a thousand years in the past, bringing her best friend along with her, punching people and getting involved in things she shouldn't.

A warm hand closed over Elena's smarting hand, pulled it out of the water and someone blew gently on it. Elena opened her eyes. Elijah looked up at her. "You are crying." he stated. He moved his hands forward and caught Elena's tear on his forefinger. "Do you feel bad for hitting Tatia?" "Look, it was not your fault." he assured her. "You would never do that consciously."

She bit her lip as her eyes watered. "This is so difficult." she whispered, looking down. "I just want to go home."

"You _are _home. And so am I – with you." Her eyes flashed to meet his, disbelieving. A ghost of a smile adorned his lips. "You may think me to be mad for saying this. I know that I have known you only for a fortnight, but I think you are the finest woman to ever grace this land." Elijah extended his hand to cup her cheek, his thumb making circles on her cheek. Elena leaned into his hand unconsciously.

"I love you Elena." he whispered, looking into her brown doe eyes. A shiver ran down her spine. "I want to do nothing but follow you and love you for the rest of my life." Elijah leaned down towards her. He looked at her, as if waiting for her consent. Elena closed her eyes, letting the chips fall where they may. That was all Elijah needed. He leaned into her, capturing her lips into a kiss.

* * *

"Caroline." Someone whispered from the shadows. Caroline turned back, frowning. Klaus emerged from the shadows of her hut.

"Klaus." she smiled. "What are you doing here?" Klaus swallowed as if gathering his courage. "I wanted to ask you something." he stated.

"What?" she asked confused at his question. He stood so close to her that Caroline was sure he could hear her heart beating wildly even without his vampire hearing. God, why did her body have to react like this to him _every _time?

"Do you fancy anyone?" he asked.

"What? What kind of a question is that?" she asked, flustered.

"Just answer it."

"Ummm… No?"

"That's answer enough for me." he whispered huskily. She crashed against his chest as he pulled her towards himself, capturing her lips with his into a deep kiss. He pulled away, gauging her reaction, not sure if he had offended her. She swallowed, her eyes still closed. He sure was a glorious kisser. All that time she had spent fantasizing about his full, raspberry lips hadn't gone in vain. Without a second thought, she pulled him back, her hand getting lost in his hair as he kissed her back deeply, with passion that made her go weak in the knees.

* * *

_Next Morning…_

"So, I take it you children enjoyed yourselves?" Mikeal smiled down at his children, which consisted of Elena and Caroline now, as they ate their breakfast.

"You know father," Kol dragged a hand over his face. "I would have enjoyed it a lot more if you had not woken us up at the crack of dawn."

Mikeal smiled at his son. "Men have to do their jobs my son. You are hunting with me today."

"Yeah, if the Denoah tribe doesn't hunt the all the game first." Kol muttered.

Mikeal narrowed his eyes. "That's enough." he told Kol sternly. "Denoahs are ill-mannered, uncultured forest beasts who know nothing other than waving their swords around and screaming."

"Who are the Denoahs?" Caroline asked Rebekah.

"They are a very violent tribe living in the mountains. They say that every full moon, they turn into beasts. Our village has a treaty with them. So they do not attack us, but Father doesn't trust them." Caroline nodded. She looked at Elena, knowing that they were thinking the same exact thing. _Werewolves._

That morning, Caroline had told Elena about kissing Klaus and she had confessed about kissing Elijah and his declaration of love for her. They had both agreed to talk to Ayanna about sending then back to the future. They both rose to go to Ayanna.

Just then a wild cry arose. "ATTACK!" Women and children ran helter-skelter.

The Denoahs had attacked.

* * *

_**Hey guys! Hope you liked the chapter! The dresses of my girls are there on my PhotoBucket account. I am really bad at describing dresses, do you had better go check out the photos. And there are pictures of Elena's hairpin and Aaron's bracelet too! My PhotoBucket account link is in my Profile... Check it out!**_


End file.
